After decades of admin jobs I undertook a part-time degree in the History of Art, Architecture & Design at Kingston University, Surrey as a mature student in 1999, then studied full-time for a Master of Arts in medieval & early modern studies at the University of Kent, 2005-2006 under my married name and have since reverted to my maiden name of Taylor.
My dissertation subject was The Life and Works of Levina Teerlinc, and my identification of Hillliard’s 1572 portrait of an Unknown Lady (Buccleuch Collection) as being of Teerlinc was accepted by my examiners. My interest in this little known woman has continued for the past 20 years and my chapter, The Queens’ Confidante, has been submitted to Routledge for inclusion in a forthcoming book of essays on Mary I’s use of inconography (to be published late 2025). This chapter contains totally new attributions to her oeuvre.
I am also interested in the visual evidence of trade in exotic fauna. My research builds on that of Dr Heather Dalton who, in 2014, identified a cockatoo in the Mantegna altarpiece, La Madonna della Vittoria, painted prior to Vasco de Gama reaching India and has been presented at conferences in 2019 and 2021.
Since 2017 I have been part of the team researching The Wadlow portrait. The Netflix documentary, The Stuff of Dreams, is about the research to prove this is an ad vivum portrait of the Bard. The documentary was screened in April 2025 and our research is ongoing.
My research into Nicholas Hilliard’s portrait miniature, Young Man Holding a Hand from a Cloud. The Victoria & Albert Museum owns the Hilliard miniature and the museum has added my research to their curatorial collection. This enigmatic portrait is loaded with covert emblems, which has piqued my curiosity regarding the visual messages contained in other images, which led to my researching the works of Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, which builds on the works of the the earlier Florentine humanists, Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandolo (1463-1494).
Go to my Academica.edu page. where you can read my research into this HIlliard miniature, Teerlinc’s panel depicting Philip II’s Joyous Entry of 1549 and Hans Holbein the Younger’s 1532 portrait of Thomas Cromwell as Master of the Jewel House.
As for other stuff, I live in the UK and over the past eighteen years have taught the following courses in art and medieval history to various adult groups:
The Marketing of Monarchy
Elizabeth I – Virgin Queen
The Stranger Painters of the Tudor Court
Illuminated Manuscripts Fit for a King.
The Stranger Painters of the Tudor Court
Illuminated Manuscripts Fit for a King.
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543): His Life & Works
Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619) & the Creation of Gloriana
The Origins of the Portrait Miniature
The Reconquest of Spain
The Normans in Europe
The Albigensian Crusade
France 1450 – 1500
Hidden in Plain Sight: Visual Evidence of Trade in Luxury Items in the Early Modern Period
1350 – 1550. The Exchange of Ideas between Southern & Northern Europe: Giotto & Van Eyck to Michelangelo & Hans Holbein the Younger
Art & Patronage in Renaissance Italy: 1350 – 1500
Italian High Renaissance & Mannerism 1501 – 1600
The Rise of the Venetian Republic from the Fall of Rome to 1500
The Golden Age of Dutch Art
I am frequently asked to give talks to art clubs and various other groups on all aspects of art and history. You can see the 120 or so talks I have given to my own art history group during the past couple of decades if you click on this link https://melanievtaylor.co.uk/ashtead-art-lovers-monthly-talks/
I have also written articles for various websites TudorsDynasty, QueenAnne Boleyn.com, On the Tudor Trail and The Tudor Society.
For fun I have written 3 novels (this link will take you to that page), and a short story Walls of Truth– a hard copy of which was accepted for inclusion in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. This short story is available as a free download.
You can email me at melanie.v.taylor@gmail.com
Melanie V Taylor 